


Heartbeat

by orphan_account



Series: Forest AU's [3]
Category: In the Forest of Huckybucky, The Huckybucky Forest
Genre: Again, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, M/M, im sorry why can't I ever stop torturing him sob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 16:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12845268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A slightly different version of Just Like Marvin, Really, in which the characters are more in character, it ends with a hug, and Marvin starts crying at an earlier point in the movie.





	Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> In which Marvin starts crying during the movie.

“Stop that! Or else…” Marvin threatened.

                Throwing him an innocent look, Claus leaned forward. “Or else… what?”

                The fox growled, and threw the pinecone in Claus’ direction. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depends on how you look at it, the pinecone bounced off a branch instead. It proceeded to hit Marvin in the face, and he stumbled half a step backwards.

                Claus choked on his laughter as Marvin slowly stood up and took deep, conscious breaths. “…fox?” Claus asked quietly, as he noticed, with a sting of worry, the wet fur around Marvin’s eyes. He crawled out to the edge of the branch and peeked down. “Marvin?” he tried softly, instead.

                The fox shook his head and went to sit down at the base of the tree, with a mumbled “forget it”. Claus frowned, but decided to allow Marvin control for now. However, the fox didn’t utter a single word, and Claus grew concerned once more.

                Quickly, before he could think it through, the mouse scurried down the trunk and crouched down next to the fox. “What’s wrong?”

                “Nothing,” Marvin muttered, even as more tears trickled through the fur on his cheeks.

                “Marvin…” Claus murmured, and sat down instead of crouching. Marvin gave no answer beyond screwing his eyes shut. Suddenly, startling Claus lightly, the fox’ body shook with a suppressed sob, and he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. “Oh, whoah, okay-” Claus babbled. “Marvin, something’s wrong, I can tell.”

                What was he supposed to do? He assumed that singing wouldn’t do a damn, and that was basically all he was good at. Then, what? Claus scooted a bit closer, until two mere inches were the only thing hindering Claus’ shoulder from bumping into Marvin’s elbow. Awkwardly resting his head on Marvin’s arm, Claus closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. This, actually, felt quite nice. Despite his cheeriness and friendliness, the mouse was rarely in physical contact with other animals.

                This was, oh, the first time in half a year?

                Marvin’s crying stopped for a moment, before he started drawing deep, rattling breaths. “You know, you’re making this a bit hard for me,” Claus said. “My arms aren’t long enough to hug you.”

                Marvin stopped moving for a few seconds before the sobbing started again. Oh, okay, so that was the wrong thing to say then, mhm, noted. “Marvin,” Claus murmured softly, looking up from his position and shuffling around until he faced the fox. “Marvin, you gotta calm down. Deep breaths, please…”

                Marvin nodded, once, and let his head fall back into the tree behind him. Maybe three minutes later, with Claus nestled against his side, Marvin started calming down again, and Claus opened his eyes and pulled back. “What do you want to do?”

                Without opening his eyes, Marvin shook his head lightly. “Don’t- don’t give me a choice,” he rasped.

                Claus nodded and averted his gaze. “Fine,” he whispered. “Yes or no questions?”

                Marvin huffed, but muttered a quiet “Yeah.”

                “Do you want to continue?”

                There was a pause, as Marvin seemed to think it over. “No,” he finally said, his voice shaking.

                “Do you want me to leave you alone?” Claus asked softly, heart beating in his chest. There could only be two answers to this question, he knew, and there was only one answer he would he happy to hear… although, the likeliness of hearing that was not large.

                Another pause, this one seemingly stretching into forever. Claus was beginning to wonder if Marvin was going to answer, when the fox let out a rattling breath. “No,” he whispered, and Claus felt his shoulders sink in relief.

                What was left to do? What could he say? “…do you promise to answer truthfully? I won’t judge you,” he finally settled on, closing his eyes as his heartbeat picked up again. His paws were shaking, he absentmindedly noticed. Why was he suddenly nervous?

                “…yes.”

                “Do you- can I hug you?” Claus was fiddling with the hem of his shirt, and had closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He couldn’t possibly-

                “Yes.”

                Claus opened his eyes and let out a relieved breath, before shuffling into Marvin’s lap and wrapping his arms around his torso. Within five seconds, Marvin had pulled him closer and curled up around him with a content, quiet whine. “Thank you,” Claus whispered.

                And Marvin’s heart drummed a beat into his ear.


End file.
